Fallout
by LaylaBinx
Summary: The only time Cougar ever hesitated, Jensen got shot. Hurt/comfort fluff inside! Warning: This is slash! :D
1. Hostage Situation

**Hello all! So I've been playing with this idea since the first time I saw the movie and I'm just now getting around to writing it lol. I'm not too happy with this chapter, it seems...off for some reason O.o Anyway, I hope you guys like it! :D**

**I own nothing =(...dammit .**

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Going over the details in his head, Jensen was pretty sure he could pin-point the exact moment this mission went from a simple steal-the-file-and-go to total shit-storm. Everything started off smoothly; he'd gotten into the building with absolutely no trouble thanks to the ID card and pass code he'd lifted off one of the other employees. It was after hours, roughly 6:30, and he managed to get through every floor without any of the custodial staff realizing he was Robert Michaels from the eighth floor. He'd even managed to quip out a smooth line for the pretty brunette he passed in the hall. But that's where the simplicity of the mission stopped.

The office he needed access to, the one with the computer he needed files from, was less empty than he'd hoped. The man looked up at him coldly as he entered, eyes narrowing slightly at the intrusion. "Who are you?" He demanded, voice sharp like a knife. He was about 60, with greying black hair and a no-nonsense expression on his face. He was also the CEO of the main insurance agency connected to GOLIATH and a personal financial executive, both of which gave him a direct link to every purchase and sell Max made. Jensen had hacked into their system about a week ago; it had taken a little over 37 hours to get past all the firewalls and codes but he'd managed to get in. However, not everything they needed was on the hard drive. There were files he couldn't open without direct access to the computer and those were the files that had the most recent location of Max.

"Oh...my bad." Jensen rambled, putting on his best fake smile. "I think I ended up on the wrong floor. I thought this hallway seemed longer..." He trailed off, looking down the hall quizzically like he wasn't sure how he got here.

The man seemed less than amused. "Leave." He commanded sharply, looking back down at the stack of papers on his desk. "I have work to do."

Jensen hesitated, bouncing on the balls of his feet absently. He really needed those files..."Hey, is that an Apple MacBook?" He asked, nodding to the computer on the man's desk, unable to keep the tech-talk to himself. He took a few steps into the room, much to the irritation of the man behind the desk. "Man, I hear that thing has like 4 gigs of RAM...does it work as well as everyone says?"

The man stood abruptly, shoving the papers he'd been working on into his briefcase and tucking a few disks and a flashdrive in the mix as well. He glared at Jensen and turned the computer off, stepping away from it and in front of him, blocking his path. "Did you not understand me earlier when I said I had work to do?" He asked, the acidity in his voice giving him an even colder expression.

Jensen shifted a bit and took a step backwards. "Sorry, just geek talk." He laughed a bit, trying to give of the impression of innocence.

The man eyed him carefully for a second, taking a half step closer to him. "What did you say your name was?" He asked, looking Jensen hard in the eye.

"Uh..." Jensen shifted again, uncomfortably this time, and absently ran a hand over the ID card he'd taken earlier. "Robert Michaels, sir." He stammered, hoping like hell the guy wouldn't recognize the name. "I just started yesterday."

Something flashed in the man's eyes, a mild look of panic and suppressed anger. "Really?" He asked, his voice almost condescending. "Because the only Robert Michaels I have in our system works on the eighth floor and has been with this company for the past fifteen years."

Shit, forget the part about him not recognizing the name. Jensen just flashed him another one of his award winning grins. "Wow, what are the odds, huh?"

The man's eyes narrowed but he said nothing for a full thirty seconds; it felt like the longest thirty seconds of Jensen's life. "Yeah, what are the odds?" Without another word, the man took a step past him as if making his way to the door.

Jensen was still debating on what he could do to stall in the office and get access to the computer when something heavy and solid connected with the back of his head. The blow was enough to knock him off his feet and send him sprawling to the ground in a daze. He could vaguely hear Clay's voice in his ear piece, saying something that was probably important, but another blow to the head blocked out all of the words.

The man bolted from the room, briefcase in hand, leaving Jensen dazed and disoriented on his hands and knees on the floor. He wasn't concerned with the computer anymore; if the man had left anything of value on it he wouldn't have left Jensen in the room with it. However, there were papers and disks in his briefcase, disks that more than likely had the information he needed. Pushing himself to his feet, forcing back the wave of dizziness that accompanied the rise, he ran into the hall after the man.

"Clay, he's on the move." Jensen explained as he ran down the hall, catching a glimpse of the tip of the man's jacket as he rounded the corner of the hall ahead of him. "I think he has the files in his briefcase."

"Stay on him." Clay instructed, his voice hard with determination. "We need those files, Jensen."

"I know, boss." Jensen rounded the corner, skidding a bit on the newly waxed floor and kept running.

"You're covered on the East side of the building." Clay added as a side note, probably because he, Aisha, and Pooch were half-way across town following another lead and couldn't really offer much more assistance than that.

Jensen didn't say anything, he didn't need to. He knew Cougar was on the opposite roof, watching and waiting for his chance to strike. It was comforting in a way but he had about ten other things to worry about at the moment. A short scream echoed through the hall and Jensen cursed softly under his breath; make that eleven things to worry about.

He rounded the corner just in time to see the man grab the pretty brunette he'd passed earlier and wrestle her into a strangle-hold, keeping her pressed tightly against his chest, the shiny barrel of a gun dug into the soft skin beneath her jaw. "Don't move." The man ordered, his voice cold and deadly, keeping his eyes on Jensen and ignoring the crying young woman in his grasp. "One more step and I'll kill her."

"Ah shit..." Jensen muttered, stopping in place and holding his hands up in a non-threatening way. He had no doubt he'd shoot the girl, Max had a tendency of making even remotely decent people do really crazy things.

"What's going on?" Clay asked, his voice sounding even further away than it had before. Maybe it was from being smacked in the head earlier or the fact that this had somehow become a hostage situation, but Jensen couldn't really concentrate on anything other than the gun pointed at the girl's throat.

"He's got a hostage..." Jensen muttered, hoping it would be loud enough for them to hear. Apparently it was because he heard Clay mumble something that sounded an awful lot like "fuck" before there was a low sigh.

"Okay, just stay calm, we're working on it. Don't do anything stupid."

"Good plan, boss." Jensen mumbled and flinched just slightly when the man snapped at him.

"Shut the fuck up!" He growled, pressing the gun more forcefully into the girl's neck. "I don't know who the hell you're talking to but I will shoot her." He assured him, shaking the girl a bit for emphasis. She let out a strangled sob and he tightened his grip, silencing her almost instantly.

Jensen took a slow breath, keeping his hands up so the man knew he wasn't holding anything. "Look man...let her go. This doesn't involve her, its just you and me." He glanced between the girl and the man holding her. "You don't want to do anything stupid, alright? No one has to die today." God, he hated hostage situations.

"You want what's in the briefcase." The man said; it wasn't a question. "Max will kill you and then me and everyone else in this whole Goddamn country for what's in here." He shook his head slightly, backing up a bit and keeping the girl pressed against him.

"I know." Jensen said, keeping his place in the hall. He knew approaching the man would only upset him further. "Jesus, why do you people work for him? He's such a dick!" He could hear Clay talking through the ear piece, not to him but to Cougar.

"Can you take the shot?"

There was a pause, a much longer pause than all of them had hoped for. "No...the girl's in the way."

Shit. Something dawned on him just then, a realization he should have come to earlier. He wasn't using the girl as a hostage, he was using her a shield. Whether he knew he was in the Sniper's scope or not, the man didn't plan on leaving himself open. Even if it meant using the young woman in front of him as a shield. Shit again; this was definitely going to get worse before it got better.

"Dammit!" Clay growled and Jensen couldn't agree with him more. He knew full well that none of them would act if there was a chance that an innocent civilian would pay the price. "Have you tried moving your location?"

Cougar paused again. "If I moved, I wouldn't have a clear shot. This is the best angle I can get." The roof he was perched on was a architectural mess of drops and rises in structure; some of the raised sections were slanted toward the street below and lower sections were too low for a clean shot. In short, he was stuck where he was.

Jensen wasn't really paying attention anymore. All he knew was that he was pretty much on his own for the moment. With Cougar unable to take the shot without hitting the girl, it was pretty much all on him. He needed the man to lose his focus on her long enough for him to move away or shift just enough so that he was in the Sniper's range. Jensen was about to do something really stupid.

"Alright, look-" He took a large step forward, knowing it was going to be exactly the kind of distraction he needed in order for the man to move. What he didn't count on was the gun whipping in his direction faster than he could blink and firing twice. There was an explosion of pain in his chest and his side and he staggered awkwardly, unable to really believe what had just happened. There was another shot, the sound of glass breaking, and the man buckled slightly as a bullet from the opposite roof ripped through his skull.

Jensen watched him fall, could hear the girl screaming at the top of her lungs, but everything else faded into one large blur. His legs gave out beneath him and he sagged to the floor. Getting shot in the arm had hurt like hell but this was different, there was almost no pain with this. It was like having all the air knocked out of your body and no being able to get any of it back. He could feel blood gushing from the wounds, soaking his clothes and falling into large, crimson puddles onto the polished tile floor. He felt slightly cold, an odd sensation compared to the heat of the blood covering his shirt.

"Jensen!" Someone was yelling his name through the ear piece. Clay probably. Jensen winced, falling back onto the tile and feeling the cold solidity beneath him. "Jensen, answer me God dammit!"

"Can't talk right now boss..." He gasped, his head swimming a bit as he stared up at the ceiling. Whether the dizziness was from the briefcase earlier of the blood loss, he couldn't be sure. "Bleeding."

"Shit!" Clay growled and then there was muffled words from Aisha and Pooch. He tried to focus on them but the words seemed foreign and far away, it was much easier to drown them out. He could hear Clay saying something to Cougar, and muttered Spanish on the Sniper's part. "-sen, hang on! We're on our way-!"

He wanted to say he was fine, but the sheer amount of blood pooling around him and sealing him to the floor said otherwise. Instead, he just laughed softly and went back to looking at the ceiling. "I'll be here..."

There was another voice talking to him now, this one almost assuredly Cougar's, but he couldn't focus on it as much as he wanted to. The voice was saying something reassuring, he was coming, he was going to be fine, something along those lines, but it all ran together after a while. the world tilted a bit above him and his fingers twitched in the blood surrounding him. He let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes, letting the darkness win. "Jensen!"

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**Okay, so I know Cougar could shoot a speck of dust from the top of the Empire State Building but making him not able to take the shot immediately helped with the plot O.o I'm sorry! I know its awkward! :S**


	2. Radio Silence

**Ack! I meant to have this up yesterday O.o I really wanted to do this chapter from Cougar's POV so I'm sorry if it drags :S Hope you all like it! :D**

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The downside of most of their missions was the dead time. And there was a lot of it. Preparing for the initial mission, gathering information, feeling productive, all of that wasn't too bad. But the downtime, the silence and surveillance, the stakeouts for days when nothing happened, that was the worst. Cougar didn't mind it so much, the other didn't seem to either, but Jensen hated it. He hated being still, silent, everything that came wrapped into one big boring package when they played the waiting game. That's why nearly everyone was ready to tranq-dart him by the time the actual mission took place.

Pooch and Aisha made actual threats, though Aisha was usually more serious about it than Pooch was. Clay ignored him for the most part, finding other thing to occupy his time with than listen to Jensen babble on about whatever random topic happened to hop into his head. Cougar kept his thoughts to himself as he usually did. He didn't mind it so much to be honest; talking (no matter how irritating or obscure the topic) meant breathing which meant he was still alive. In their line of work, silence usually held double meanings, one of them being the permanent kind. And if it ever got down to a choice between the two, Cougar would prefer the younger man to talk his ear off than be silent. A silent Jensen wasn't good in any situation.

He can hear him talking through the earpiece now. He's chattering on about something, Cougar isn't sure what; hell, he's pretty sure Jensen doesn't even know what half the time. He talks to pass the time, the fill the silence, he talks when he's bored. Breaking into an insurance building with direct connections to GOLIATH shouldn't have been a boring job but Jensen was talking anyway. From his position on the roof across the street, shoulders pressed against the steel and glass outcropping on the building, Cougar couldn't see him but he could hear him perfectly.

Clay, Aisha, and Pooch were on the other side of town, staking out another building that had some kind of link to GOLIATH and Max. Cougar had stayed behind, covering Jensen from the building across the way. The younger man had a habit of landing himself in some unpleasant situations and Cougar was trying to make sure that didn't happen again.

Jensen's voice broke through the transmission again; he was talking to someone. Apparently the office he was aiming for a was a little more occupied than he originally thought. He made a couple of loose excuses, feigning innocence and he tried to get the other person out of the room. There was a brief moment of contemplative silence and then, "Hey, is that an Apple MacBook?" Cougar suppressed a smirk, leave it to Jensen to break of into techno-babble as a way of distraction.

Apparently, the man in question was less impressed by the questions the younger man was asking becuase Jensen apologized airily. "Sorry, just geek talk." There was another brief pause, a shuffle of movement as someone stepped closer. Jensen hesitated, saying the fake name he'd swiped from one of the other employees with a very slight stutter in his voice.

Judging by the reaction, his cover had been all but blown. The man had either caught on or knew something was off about the situation. Jensen laughed slightly, no humor in his voice, and continued. "Wow, what are the odds, huh?"

Another silence filled the earpiece, this one slightly longer, and Cougar sat up a bit straighter, listening carefully. If Jensen's cover had been blown, the man would know someone had infiltrated his building and was searching for information. This was going to get bad in a hurry.

There was a loud noise, a thus, like something slamming into a padded wall. Cougar stiffened; he wasn't sure what the noise was or what had caused it but he was pretty damn certain it involved Jensen. There was another thudding noise, this one a bit louder, and he felt his jaw clench in anticipation.

"Clay, he's on the move." Jensen said suddenly and Cougar felt a bit of the tension release. He sounded unscathed for the most part but he still couldn't see him from his vantage point. It was frustrating and did nothing for the growing apprehension he felt with the blond out of sight range. "I think he has the files in his briefcase."

Clay told him to stay close, get the files no matter what. It was a typical Clay-response. Not that he didn't care what happened to his team but those files were important; anything that wold lead to Max and his eventual downfall was their main goal. "You're covered on the East side of the building." He added and Cougar immediately dropped into position, looking down into his scope and catching a blur of movement almost immediately. Then things took a turn for the worse.

Cougar felt the muscles in his shoulders tense the minute he saw the man round the corner, nearly colliding with the young woman in the hall. In the blink of an eye, he'd grabbed her roughly around the throat, swinging her in front of him and keeping a firm grip on her, a gun appearing in his hand from an unknown source. The girl was crying, trembling in his grip, but the man was ignoring her as easily an an intrusive housefly. He was either incredibly smart or incredibly lucky; from his position in the hall and Cougar's position on the roof, he was completely shielded by the young woman in front of him, making the shot all but impossible unless they wanted to be responsible for two bodies in the hallway by the end of the night. And then Jensen walked in. Cougar felt the rest of the muscles in his body go rigid, his dark eyes locked on the blond. Well this had gotten out of hand in a hurry.

"Ah shit..." Jensen's voice came over the ear piece, exasperated and tinged with frustration. His hands were held up, showing he had nothing on him, and he eyed the man with a look of suprise and resignation.

"What's going on?" Clay's voice came over both of their ear pieces and Jensen managed to answer before Cougar did.

"He'd got a hostage..."

Cougar heard Clay curse softly over the frequency and he couldn't blame him, he felt about the same. He shifted his position slightly, trying to get a clearer shot of the man, but no matter how he moved (save getting up and finding a completely different location) the girl was still in his shot.

"Okay, just stay calm, we're working on it. Don't do anything stupid." He was glad Clay said something; he knew that was on everyone's mind. Jensen was a smart kid but he tended to make some pretty rash decisions without giving much thought to them. Hostage situations were no different, if it meant life of death for someone else, Jensen usually put himself in the middle of the equation.

He could see the younger man holding his ground, keeping his hands up and trying to talk to the man, trying to convince him to let the girl go. "This doesn't involve her, its just you and me. You don't want to do anything stupid, alright? No one has to die today." He was trying to buy time, prevent the unthinkable from happening, but time only gets you so far. Eventually, the watch is going to stop.

Cougar shifted again, trying desperately to get a clean shot. He didn't want this to escalate further than it already had and he definitely didn't want Jensen in the middle of it all. The fact the the younger man was even in this situation to begin with was making him anxious and he hated that feeling.

The man was saying something about Max; he couldn't hear the words but judging by Jensen's reaction, he knew that's who they were talking about. "Jesus, why do you people work for him? He's such a dick!"  
"Can you take the shot?" Clay's voice suddenly filled his head and he blinked through the scope again, still trying to set it up. If he was even a fraction of a millimeter off..."No...the girl's in the way." He knew that wasn't the reaction they'd hoped for, it certainly wasn't the one he wanted to give. He'd been a Sniper for years, he was one of the best in the world, but he couldn't make the shot...not without killing the girl as well.

"Dammit! Have you tried moving your location?" Clay demanded, his voice taking on a biting edge it only had when he was worried. Clay cared for his team like they were his family and when one of them was in the line of fire, he didn't handle it very well.

Cougar sighed, angry at himself more than anything. "If I moved, I wouldn't have a clear shot. This is the best angle I can get." The words felt like acid in his mouth, bitter and sharp, and he wanted nothing more than to have a better answer. Unless the man moved, shifted the girl even the slightest bit, he couldn't take the shot.

He looked back through his scope, watching Jensen's face carefully. He knew the younger man had heard everything they'd just said, he knew their options. Something flashed across his face, a look barely noticeable had Cougar not been paying attention. He felt something cold settle in his chest.

"Alright, look-" In the blink of an eye, the man had turned the gun on him, firing twice. Cougar only needed to fire once. The movement had been just enough for the girl to be far enough away that she wouldn't get him. Right as the second bullet was leaving the chamber, Cougar pulled the trigger.

Through his scope he could see the window breaking only a few feet from the man's head, the cracks that spread through the glass sheet. He saw the slight swish of the girl's hair as the bullet whizzed past her face, burying itself in the man's forehead only millimeters from where she'd been a second ago. She was screaming, breaking away from him just as his body began to slump to the floor Cougar was on his feet and running to the fire exit before he ever hit the ground.

"Jensen!" Clay was yelling over the ear piece and Cougar almost couldn't hear it over the pounding of his feet as he ran across the roof top. He'd seen the bullets hit, saw the burst of blood and the startled look on the younger man's face. He needed to get there and now.

"Can't talk right now boss..." Jensen gasped, his voice broken and pained. "Bleeding."

Clay cursed again and Cougar felt a few words tumble out of his mouth before he could stop them. Talking was good though, it meant the wounds weren't fatal. Yet. He pushed that thought out of his head and ran faster, taking the stairs three at a time.

Clay was telling him to hang on, telling him they were on the way, but it wasn't helping as much as he'd hoped. They were still a few miles away and it would take time to get there, time that Jensen didn't have. Cougar muttered a few more curses, landing on the second level of the building. "You're going to be fine." He said loudly enough for Jensen to hear him, not sure if he was trying to convince himself or Jensen. "I'm almost there, just hang on."

Nothing but silence greeted him. He half-expected some kind of silly remark, a sarcastic retort, anything. But there was nothing. Nothing but the cold, remorseless silence. Jensen wasn't speaking...he wasn't rambling on about some random thought that popped in his head...he wasn't making any noise at all. Cougar felt like someone had punched him in the stomach, "Jensen!"

It was still silent.

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**Poor Jensen, he's still shot! Oh no! It'll pick up next chapter, I promise! :D**


	3. Hurry

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long update! Hope you like it! :D**

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Cougar passed the brunette running out of the lobby as he was running in. She didn't seem to notice him at all. She was still crying, tears streaming down her face and smearing her mascara. Her car keys were clutched in one hand, cell phone in the other, and she was rambling hysterically to someone on the other line (the police probably). Which meant they had less time than before. The Sniper raced past her and into the building, pushing the door open to the stairwell with barely a thought. He could get to the floor Jensen was on in half the time it would take for the elevator to get there. Keeping that thought in his mind, he raced up the stairs, his footsteps echoing in the close hallway.

"Cougar, where are you?" Clay demanded through the ear piece, his voice coming out a sharp bark. He was worried, they all were, he could tell from the honking and squeal of tires that rang through the frequency as well. If he knew anything, he knew that Pooch was probably breaking every speed limit he came to.

"In the building." Cougar answered simply, taking another flight of stairs three at a time. "The police are coming." He didn't know if it was true but they couldn't afford to take chances. There was a witness, a dead body upstairs, and they were still supposed to be under the radar. The police storming in and catching them was definitely not something they wanted to deal with.

"Shit." Clay hissed and there was some muffled input from Aisha in the background. "Okay, get to Jensen. We'll be there in five minutes."

Cougar nodded, though he knew Clay couldn't see it, and pushed open the stairwell door to the fifth floor. the hallway was quiet now, completely devoid of the chaos that had taken place just minutes before. He broke into a run, taking in the landmarks from the windows that surrounded him and tracking the building he'd been perched on earlier. It was closer to the front of the building (he'd entered toward the back, near the parking lot) so he followed the winding hallway blindly, boots pounding on the freshly waxed tiles. There was a smell in the air, a rusty, metallic smell he could place anywhere. It was blood. Jensen's blood to be more specific. He ran faster.

The building came into view up ahead and he took a corner sharply, entering the hallway the shoot-out had occurred in. There was blood everywhere, covering the floor and splashed up on the walls from the impact of the bullets. The CEO was laying closest to him, one whole side of his face completely gone from where the bullet had ricocheted through his skull. Had he not had other priorities at the moment, Cougar would have considered shooting him again.

Jensen was a few feet away from him, flat on his back with an alarming amount of blood surrounding him. He was too still, there was too much blood, and for a heart-stopping second, Cougar thought he was too late. Drowning that thought, he ran past the CEO and slid to a stop next to Jensen. "Jensen." He said the younger man's name softly, almost terrified of what was very possible.

To his immense relief, the blond winced slightly, his eyes squeezing shut behind blood-speckled glasses, and he blinked slowly, looking up at the Sniper. "Hey Coug..." He smiled weakly, his voice dull with pain. "Good shot..." He shifted a bit, almost like he was trying to sit up, but a hand pressing gently on his uninjured shoulder stopped him.

"Shh...don't try to move..." Cougar whispered, taking in the damage that had been done to his friend. There were two bullet wounds, one about an inch below Jensen's right collar bone and the other a few inches above his hip. They were both bleeding profusely, soaking his shirt and trailing down to stain one leg of his pants as well. From this angle and their location, Cougar couldn't tell how bad the wounds were at that moment.

"Cougar, what floor?" Clay asked suddenly, pulling him out of his reverie.

He blinked, shaking his head a bit and looked back down the hallway. "Fifth floor." He answered simply, turning his attention back to his wounded teammate.

"How bad?"

Cougar swallowed sharply, forcing down the rise of bile in the back of his throat. "Hurry." Was all he said; it went unquestioned. Clay said something else but he wasn't listening, he needed to stop the bleeding.

He pulled off his over shirt quickly, ripping it in half with surprising precision. He took one of the pieces, wadding it and pressing the material to the wound in his shoulder. Realizing he needed to keep some kind of pressure on it, he reached down, fumbling with younger man's belt and unbuckling it.

"Jeez Coug...you could at least buy me dinner...before you try to get in my pants..." Jensen joked weakly, gritting his teeth as a wave of pain swept through him.

Despite the severity of the situation, Cougar managed a slightly smirk at the blonde's joke. He slid the belt out of the belt loops and lifted Jensen just enough to slip the band behind his shoulder and loop it under his arm, tying it tightly to stem some of the bleeding. The younger man groaned softly in pain and Cougar apologized, his heart sinking a bit at the pitiful sound. He was in the middle of folding the other half of the shirt and pressing it into the wound in Jensen's side when he heard Clay's voice down the hall.

"Cougar!" He shouted, he voice echoing off the windows in the hallway.

"Down here!" The Sniper yelled back, turning his attention back to Jensen. The younger man was pale, his normally tan skin taking on a sickly grey color. They needed to get him out of here and somewhere safe or he was going to start going into shock.

Clay appeared a few seconds later, Aisha trailing behind him with a large bottle of Clorox in her hand. In a split second, Clay was kneeling next Jensen as well, looking down at the blood that coated his shirt and pants. "Jesus kid, you never could do anything halfway, could you...?" He asked, lifting the wadded cloth on his shoulder slightly and cursing at the wound.

" 's what 'm good for boss..." Jensen mumbled, his words slurring together as the effect of blood loss began to take its toll on him. "Gotta keep you...on your toes some how..."

"Yeah, well how about not getting shot next time?" Clay snapped but the concern in his eyes negated the sharpness of his words.

"Mhmm..." Jensen nodded just slightly, letting his eyes fall shut and his body sag a little bit into the floor.

"Jensen!" Clay barked, shaking him suddenly. The younger man's eyes opened slowly and focused on him. "I need you stay awake for me, alright? That's an order, son."

Jensen nodded again but it looked like even that small motion was wearing him out. "Aye aye..."

"Good." Clay said, looking at Cougar who still had his hands pressed over the wound in Jensen's side. "We need to go, the cops will be here any minute." He slid his arm behind Jensen's shoulders and lifted him slightly, muttering an apology when the younger man moaned in protest of the movement. Cougar wrapped his arm around Jensen's shoulders, holding him up carefully, while Clay moved to the other side and looped the younger man's uninjured arm around his neck. Slowly, they stood up, keeping the injured man pressed between them. "Aisha, let's go!" Clay called over his shoulder once he was sure they had a good grip on their wounded teammate.

Aisha nodded deftly and walked over to where Jensen had been laying, emptying the most of bleach onto the floor where the blood had pooled around him. She came up beside Cougar, pressing her hand over the wound in Jensen's side and absently pouring bleach on the floor as blood slipped out from between her fingers and splattered onto the pristine tiles. Between the three of them, they managed to half-drag, mostly carry Jensen to the elevator and get him inside. With one last look at the blood trail leading to the elevator, the door closed and the group headed down to the parking lot.

There was a wail of sirens as they stepped out through the emergency exit into the back parking lot, the flash of police lights illuminating the front of the building. Pooch had the doors of the van already open, waving for them to hurry. They cleared the short distance to the van quickly, piling in and closing the doors just as another squad of police cars arrived. Using a back alley that hadn't been covered yet, Pooch managed to navigate the van away from the line of police officers and down into a series of residential streets. After driving for a few blocks, certain they weren't being followed, Pooch looked over at Clay and then into the back seat at Jensen. "Jesus..." He muttered, dividing his attention between the road and his wounded teammate.

Jensen was sprawled across the backseat, his head resting in Cougar's lap and his legs in Aisha's. He was almost completely unconscious by this point, a worrying factor for more than one reason. Aisha frowned, pressing down a little bit harder on the wound in his side.

Jensen gasped softly, his eyes opening slowly. He managed to focus on Aisha and frowned slightly. " 'm gettin' blood all ov'r your pants..." He mumbled, his tangling together loosely.

"Well I guess you'll just have to live long enough to buy me a new pair then, won't you?" Aisha muttered back though there was no real venom in her voice. Cougar couldn't tell if it was the vibration of the car that was making her hands shake or if it was something else but he didn't say anything. He kept one hand pressed over the shoulder wound, trying to ignore the way the blood slipped between his fingers, and instead focused on the sluggish heartbeat and shallow breathing beneath his palm.

"Clay, how bad is it?" Pooch asked from in front of him, looking at their leader carefully.

Clay said nothing for a second, staring at the passing street lights overhead.

"Clay." Pooch said again and the older man looked at him finally.

"It's pretty bad." He answered grimly, looking over his shoulder to the wounded young man sprawled across his teammate's legs. "Just get us back to the warehouse."

Pooch nodded and increased his speed, staring ahead with a mixture of concern and determination on his face.

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**Okay, so for anyone wondering about the bleach thing: supposedly bleach distorts DNA and makes it inconclusive in forensic tests (thank you Boondock Saints for that bit of information lol). I don't know how accurate that is but I figured this might be useful in their situation considering they're supposed to be under the radar and everything =P**


	4. Patchwork

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the long update O.o Summer school literally wants my soul and I'm pretty sure it would make a direct contract for my first born as well if it could -.-; Anyway, here's the next chapter! :D Aisha seems a bit OOC to me but hopefully not too horrible :S Hope you like it! :D**

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The "warehouse" was actually an old bus depot, abandoned and long forgotten in the downtown district. It had been the biggest in this part of the city well into the 1980s but the growth of the city forced others, bigger and better, to take its place further into the heart of the city and this one had been left to ruin. It was a popular hang-out for teenagers though, graffiti and spray paint covering the outside of the building; one in particular was a lop-sided, black spray painted "Warehouse" over the front door and the name had stuck from there. Heavy locks covered the front door but that did very little when you could simply break one of the large windows along the side of the building and walk inside that way. Several of the windows had been broken for this reason, only to be boarded up in a vain attempt to protect the old building. It didn't stop it from being used for parties and raves just the same. The parking lot was covered in beer cans and bottles and the inside hadn't been much better. When they first claimed this building as their safe house, it took two and half days to clean out the inside of the building, carrying out trash bag after trash bag of garbage, leftover clothing, and things they really didn't want to identify. Jensen had re-rigged the lighting system and Pooch and Aisha had gone around disinfecting anything they could get their hands on (note: the excess of Clorox). After a few days, the old building was clean enough to be called comfortable. It didn't have to be a five star hotel, God knows they'd stayed in places worse than this, but it was quiet, out of the way, and most of abandoned; no one to ask questions. And with that, they really couldn't ask for anything more.

Pooch had barely pulled to a stop before Clay kicked open the door and walked around to the back side of the van, yanking the door open with one hand. He looped his arms under Jensen's and held him up enough for the others to get out and walk around to help move him. Between he and Cougar, they managed to get a firm grip on Jensen and pull him out of the van. The younger man was completely unconscious by this point, his head lolling limply around on his neck. Clay shifted him up just enough to where his head was resting against his shoulder; as if getting shot weren't bad enough, they definitely didn't want to have to deal with a neck injury on top of it all. Aisha walked in front of them, pushing open a side door and stepping to the side as the two men walked past her. She flipped the light switch, the lights flickering and humming as they came back on from years of disuse. There wasn't a ton of light to use, they bulbs were over twenty years old, but there was enough so that they could see what they were doing.

Before teenagers had wreaked havoc on the building, there had been several rows of benches filling up one side of the room. The back of the building was where the buses would pull up, the front part was reserved for ticket windows and employee offices. The benches were designed to keep guests comfortable, despite being made out of hard metal, and there had been enough to accommodate over one hundred people at a time. Thanks to years of slow decay and disuse, the benches had been pulled out of the ground, flipped over, bent in half (that was impressive actually), and every other kind of destruction there could be. There were only a few that remained standing, bolted to the ground and steady enough to hold a person for more than ten seconds. That's where they took Jensen.

The benches were big enough to sit two people, back to back, comfortabley or one Jensen, flat on his back. They laid him down gently, one arm falling over the side of the bench limply. Pooch appeared out of nowhere, a first aid kit tucked under his arm that he set down next to the bench. He took a step back, holding his breath at the sight of all the blood. They'd been working together for years and they'd all seen their fair share of bump and bruises and wounds that would scar but it never made it any easier. Especially when it was the team's designated "annoying little brother" laying broken and bleeding on the bench in front of him.

Cougar was on his knees next to Jensen, examining the wounds carefully. It was established long ago that if it ever came to stitches, Cougar was the one to go to. He had steadier hands than anyone else on the team but for some reason, right now, they were shaking. There was so much blood, God, too much blood...it looked like there was more on Jensen than in him. He broke himself from the trance with a sharp shake of his head and pulled a pocket knife out of his back pocket, flipping open the blade and making quick work of the blood soaked shirt that clung to Jensen like a second skin. He untied the belt, slipping it off his arm, and tossing it across the room. The shirt came next, peeling away from his blood-stained skin to reveal, if possible, even more blood underneath. Cougar cursed softly, lifting the younger man gently and slipping the shirt off his shoulders. For the first time he noticed there was no exit wound from the bullet hole in his shoulder. Dammit, that meant it was still in there...

Shaking his head again, he removed the rest of the shirt and dropped it to the ground with a wet slap. The wound in Jensen's side was a through-and-through, in and out in a clean entrance and exit and Cougar had never been so glad for shitty shot in his life. It was mostly skin, not far enough into the abdomen to hit any vital organs or major arteries but enough to where it was bleeding freely. Once the pressure had been removed from the wound, blood began to swell to the surface again, weeping over the sides of the wound and trickling down in crimson streams over his side. The back was no better, blood dripping to the ground and splattering on the old tiles in fat, red splatters. Cougar swallowed a rush of bile in the back of his throat, forcing himself to stay calm and keep a level head.

Aisha was beside him suddenly, digging into the first aid kit and pulling out a suture kit and a bottle of disinfectant. She poured the disinfecting into a clean wad of gauze and began wiping blood away from the wound, paying special attention to the edges, pressing down slightly in an attempt to stem the oozing blood flow again. When she saw that Cougar was ready, she moved her hands and sat back on her knees, watching as he carefully and expertly stitched the wound closed. He moved with the precision of a surgeon, or at least someone who's done this more times than he'd care to remember, and within a few minutes, the front side of the wound was stitched closed.

Aisha moved to the other side of the bench, shifting Jensen just enough so that the exit wound was visible. The younger man moaned faintly but never opened his eyes, a sign that was both encouraging and frustrating at the same time. Encouraging because the moan meant he was still alive but frustrating because it meant he was nowhere close to consciousness. She wrapped her hand around his forearm and squeezed gently, trying to offer some sort of comfort to the injured young man.

Cougar stitched the exit wound with the same careful precision he'd used on the entrance wound and Aisha pretended not to notice that his hands were shaking as he pulled the last suture through the skin. While Aisha disinfected the closed wounds, he dug into the first aid kit and pulled out clean gauze pads, covering the stitches and taping them in place. He sat back on his knees, looking at the shoulder wound grimly. The easy part was done; now he had to dig the bullet out of Jensen's shoulder.

He paused for a second to check the younger man's pulse, counting the uneven rhythm in his head. It was weak and sluggish but it was still there. Now they just had to keep it that way. He dug into the first aid kit, pulling out a pair of tweezers from one of the side pockets. He didn't remember if they came with the kit or if they had found them along the way, he just knew that right now they were the best tool he could use in this situation. Aisha had already set to work at cleaning the wound, wiping the blood away with a gentleness none of them knew she possessed. Most of the time, she was all bullets and blood, get in, kill em', get out; but now, carefully wiping the blood away from the wound in Jensen's shoulder, she seemed almost...motherly? No one would dare tell her that though, not if they didn't want to find out exactly how many ways Aisha could kill you in a sixty second period.

The bullet wound was small, barely bigger than a nickel, and located about an inch down from his collarbone. It looked high enough up to where it wouldn't have pierced a lung but it wasn't outside the realms of possibility. Careful not to disturb the wound anymore than he was about to, Cougar leaned down and pressed his ear to the area right below the wound, listening intently to Jensen breathe. It was harsh, hitched and ragged, but it didn't sound like there was any fluid in his lungs. Once again, he'd never been so grateful for a shitty shot.

Sitting back on his knees and shifting a bit closer to the bench, he muttered a soft apology to Jensen before he carefully began sifting through the wound with the metal tweezers. He was silently thankful the younger man was unconscious for this part because God knows it was going to hurt like hell here in a minute. He poked and prodded the damaged tissue as gently as he could, trying desperately not to hurt his team mate anymore than he had to. It wasn't going to be that simple; the minute he found that bullet and pulled it out, it was going to feel like napalm being poured into the raw wound. He'd had bullets removed from his own body before, it was never a fun experience.

The tip of the tweezers clinked against something softly and he halted, shifting a little closer so he could see. In the dull flourescent lights overhead, he could just barely make out the silvery gleam of the bullet. It was deep in the muscle tissue, only one corner visible by the naked eye. Cougar held his breath; this was going to suck. A lot. Muttering another soft apology to his unconscious friend, he shifted the tweezers so he could get a better grip on the bullet and, keeping it tightly grasped between the edges, he pulled. The bullet dislodged easier than he expected it to but with it came a sudden jolt from Jensen and a strangled, painful cry from the younger man.

He jerked away from Cougar instinctively, the wound now bleeding freely and openly over his chest. There was an alarming amount of it, coming all at once, but it was too dark to be arterial. Still, they needed to get it stopped and in a hurry. Jensen writhed again, his shoulder on fire, and his back arched sharply against the pain.

"Está bien..." Cougar said, grabbing the younger man by the shoulder and holding him still. "Está a salvo...Está a salvo..." He mumbled again and again, keeping a firm yet gentle grip on Jensen's shoulders.

The blond looked up at him with dull, pain-filled eyes. "Cougar...?" He asked, his voice tight and catching as he spoke. He was trembling all over, the shock of the sudden pain taking its toll on him. "Wha...?"

Aisha had slipped on to the bench at some point, lifting his her just enough to pillow it against her leg. "You're okay..." She said softly, combing her fingers through his hair awkwardly. "Everything's okay...just stay still, alright?"

Jensen turned his attention to her then, confusion filling the space where the pain had been in his eyes. "Aisha...?" He seemed more surprised to see her than anything. He opened his mouth to say something but the words died on his lips. He swallowed sporadically, the muscles in his throat stiffening a bit, before his eyes flickered closed and he sagged back against her.

For a second, Cougar felt a cold weight settle in his chest. He looked between the still blond and woman above him, panic beginning to rise up before he could control it. Aisha had her finger pressed to Jensen's throat, her expression unreadable. Finally, she nodded her head slowly and looked down at him. "He'd okay...he just passed out." She said, though her voice quavered just slightly when she spoke.

Cougar nodded in return, more relieved than he'd ever felt in his life, and turned his attention back to the wound. He managed to stitch it closed quickly too much more blood was lost but that still didn't solve all of their problems. Jensen had lost a lot of blood in a short period of time and if it wasn't replaced soon, the strain on his heart could be too much and he could go into shock. Shoving that thought aside for the moment and instead focusing on the task still at hand, he covered the freshly stitched wound with a gauze pad and taped it down. Jensen was still trembling a bit and Aisha shushed him softly, keeping a consistent pattern of carding her fingers through his short hair.

The side door opened again and for the first time, Cougar noticed that Clay and Pooch had been absent through the entire thing. Clay walked over to the bench, a large cardboard box supported in his arms, and Pooch was busy grabbing something from one corner of the room. The box was full of extra medical supplies, bandages, gauze, medications, pretty much everything the first aid kit was running low on. There was a thermal blanket, pressure bandages, and a ton of other instruments that had fallen to the bottom of the box during transport. While Cougar and Aisha had been patching up Jensen as best they could, Pooch and Clay had knocked over a drug store. Jensen was usually the one who could get in and out of medical supply buildings without being noticed but since he was the one in jeopardy this time around, it was left up to the others.

Pooch walked over from the other side of the room with something resembling a hat rack under one arm. None of them were really sure where it had come from, why it was there, or who had brought it, but by god, there was a hat rack in the bus terminal. He set to work looping something around one of the hooks, giving it enough slack to hang down to Jensen's level. Upon closer examination, Cougar discovered there was a blood bag now hanging from the hat rack, a long, thing tube running down to the bench next to Jensen. He wasn't going to question where he'd gotten the blood; it didn't matter, if it helped their team mate they would clean out a whole blood bank.

"Sorry man...I know you hate needles and all but..." Pooch crouched down next to Jensen's still form, talking softly as he slipped the needle into his skin. He taped the needle and tubes down carefully, keeping them in place, and sat for a second, watching the shallow rise and fall of the younger man's chest.

Clay remained standing, watching his team mates crowd around their injured member. Cougar was standing closest to him so he stepped forward, speaking softly. "How bad is it?"

Cougar hesitated, looking back at Jensen and then back at Clay. "Bad enough."

Clay nodded slowly, his eyes never straying far from the injured hacker on the bench. "Jensen's a fighter...he'll pull through..." He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince. With a slight sigh, he revised his statement. "If he gets any worse, we'll take him to a hospital."

Cougar nodded in understanding. Hospitals were usually the last place they wanted to go; hospitals meant legal forms and questions they couldn't answer. Staying under the radar was what they had been doing for months and blowing it now wouldn't solve anything. Still, Clay wasn't about to lose another member of his team...he'd be damned if he let that happen. Cougar turned around and walked back to the bench, taking his place next to Jensen's side again. It was going to be a long night...

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**(1) "Esta Bien...Esta a salvo...Esta a salvo..."-"It's okay...you're safe...you're safe" (Google Translation, tell me if it's wrong!)**

**Hope you liked it! :D**


	5. Four

**Hah! Take that finals! XP Hehe, so sorry for the long wait but to make up for it, here's an uber long chapter O.o this chapter was kinda fun to write because it was like a flashback episode ^.- Hope you guys like it! Quick note: I couldn't remember if Clay smoked or not but, for plot purposes, I made him a smoker O.o Sorry! Also, I know the initial meeting between he and Jensen is a bit far fetched but hey, they never do anything half-way right? Hope you guys like it! :D**

**italics= flashback ^.-**

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It was too quiet. It was way too damn quiet and none of them could stand it. Clay sighed and shifted, leaning against the graffiti covered wall and lighting another cigarette. He wasn't sure what number this was, (three probably?) he just knew he'd been smoking pretty continuously for the past hour and a half. The others were inside, sitting, standing, staring, everyone in a daze, no one knowing what to do now.

They found a mattress somewhere in the depths of the bus station; none of them really wanted to think what it had been used for but was better than a bench. It didn't make the situation any better though, Jensen was still the one laying on it. Jensen was still the one who had taken two bullets earlier...he was still the one struggling to make it through the night. Clay shook his head, taking a long drag on the cigarette and exhaling slowly. They had all been in this for years, the jobs none of them were allowed to talk about, the places none of them were supposed to know existed. It was dangerous, that was a given, and they all knew the risks. That sentiment didn't make it any easier to see one of his team members bleeding and unconscious on a filthy mattress in an abandoned bus station though.

Jensen had been the wild card in their team from the beginning. He wasn't original, assigned to Clay's team from the start like the others. They'd had another tech expert before Jensen came along, a man named Williams. He was great at his job, a freakin' genius with computers, but that was it. He was a walking brain, no personality, no sense of humor, everything was a job and he made sure he was good at it. He'd been with their team for a little over a year before he was offered a job with the CIA and was whisked off to a three-sided cubicle in an office no one knew existed. None of them were really all that broken up about his departure to be honest. A half-hearted shrug, a "good luck with that", and that was the last they saw of Williams.

Clay had been in the middle of flipping through a folder of new recruits when he stumbled across Jensen. No, literally stumbled. He had been walking down the hall to return a file and the younger man was literally jostled into him, hands cuffed behind his back and chattering away to the two stern, uniformed officers hauling him away.

_"Seriously guys, if the Pentagon wants to protect their entire computer system from total failure they're going to have to have a better security set up than that. I mean it took me two days to- oops, sorry..." He said when he crashed shoulder first into Clay and kept right on talking. "I mean, all you really have to know are the right algorithms in the correct sequences and its totally easy to gain access to-"_

_"Excuse me." Clay said, stopping the officers in their tracks. "What are you doing with a member of my team?" He wasn't sure why he had said that, hell, he didn't even know this kid, but something just clicked and he couldn't back down now._

_"He's under arrest for threatening national security." One of the officers answered strictly, barely acknowledging Clay's presence and tightening his grip on the young man in handcuffs like he was a disobedient child._

_"And what, exactly, did he do?" Clay asked, his interest piqued even more._

_"We're not at liberty to discuss the details-" The officer started but the young man chimed in as well._

_"I hacked into the Pentagon's computer system." He answered boldly with a slight shrug as if it was something that happened every day. "I was trying to prove a point and-"_

_"That's enough." The officer snapped, jerking him to the side with enough force to knock the kid off balance._

_"Um, excuse me officers but I gave him permission to run a simulated operation of an attack on national security to gauge the reaction time of the armed forces." Clay was excellent at lying, he'd been trained by the best and could easily make out the paperwork to make it seem like this had all been planned from the beginning. He wasn't sure what it was about the chatterbox blond in between the two officers that piqued his interest but anyone who could blatantly hack into the one of the most secure computer systems in the world was definitely worth looking into._

_The officers looked at each other uncertainly, not entirely sure what to believe. Simulation drills happened all the time, it wasn't unusual, but they usually weren't so...real. "Sorry sir, but we have to take him in for questioning-"_

_Clay shook his head, cutting him off. "No need, I have all the necessary paperwork in my office." He led them into the office he'd been in (one that didn't belong to him) and managed to bullshit his way into a fake document giving permission for a simulated attack on the Pentagon's computer system. It had taken a good twenty minutes to convince them to take the handcuffs off the younger man and release him into his custody. They mumbled something about running the paperwork through at the station and Clay nodded in agreement; it wouldn't matter, they would be long gone and off the grid by the time they got the results back saying that all of it was fake._

_Once the officers had left, Clay grabbed the younger man by the arm and steered him out of the office, out of the building, and into the parking lot. The blond was chattering away the entire time._

_"That was incredible! I can't believe you got those guys to believe you! Man, I bet you could talk down a brick wall if it really came down to it-"_

_"Did you really hack into the Pentagon?" Clay asked, cutting him off sharply once they were far enough away from the building that no one would hear them._

_The younger man looked slightly surprised and grinned mischievously. "Yeah, I did. More than once actually, three times to be exact. This is the only time they've ever caught me." He shrugged a bit like it wasn't a big deal. "I've gotten into the White House computer system a couple of times too. Did you know that the president's email is only guarded by a couple of flimsy firewalls? Seriously, one of the most powerful guys in the nation and they can't protect his email account any better than that?" He wasn't showing off, he was stating the facts. _

_Clay shook his head in amazement. "And you just do this in your spare time?"_

_The younger man shrugged and nodded. "Well yeah, I mean I joined the military to work with computers but they shoved in an office all day to catalogue files into a hard drive and Jesus, man, do you know how boring that gets? I mean everyday its the same thing: flip through files, code them, back them up on separate disks, catalogue them, repeat." He shrugged again, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Gotta keep it interesting somehow, you know?"_

_Clay was speechless. He'd talked to several computer techs who were a little too smart for their own good but had the personality of a sack of sand (Williams). But this kid was way too damn smart for his own good and he was doing this just to see if it could be done ("three times to be exact") He shook his head again and took a deep breath, weighing the options of what he was about to do. "Think I have a job that's right up your alley, kid."_

_The younger man beamed with the enthusiasm of a five year old who had just been told a secret. "Anything is better than this."_

_Clay nodded and continued. "What's your name, soldier?"_

_"Jensen, sir. Jake Jensen."_

Clay sighed, dropping the spent cigarette to the ground and stomping on it. Jensen had been a handful from the beginning, the unpredictable one with an infectiously optimistic outlook on life and the attitude to prove it. He was a damn genius, cracking codes and decrypting files in half the time it took Williams. Plus, he fit in with the team better than Clay expected. Yeah, Jensen could hold an entire conversation with a brick wall (which was Cougar most of the time) and never think anything of it. To be honest, Clay was pretty sure the team was just glad to have a tech guy who wasn't a workaholic and could cut it up with the rest of them.

He lit another cigarette, the fourth one of the night, and took a slow drag. He wasn't sure what would happen if Jensen didn't make it. Even with the blood transfusion, the younger man was still teetering on the brink, losing his balance on either side. If he lost it completely...Clay shook his head; losing Roque was hard enough, despite the fact that he turned on them and sold them out, but losing another member of his team wasn't something he thought he could handle. He leaned back against the wall again, looking up at the sky and inhaling the acrid smoke slowly. It helped him focus on something else for a minute. Closing his eyes, letting the emptiness of the night surround him, he prayed to a God he didn't believe in.

**OOOOO**

Pooch shook his head, standing suddenly and walking away from the mattress. He'd been staring at the growing blood stains on the gauze covering Jensen's wounds for longer than he wanted to think and he couldn't take it anymore. He hated seeing him like this, the broken, bleeding young man sprawled unceremoniously on the mattress. Jensen wasn't supposed to be this quiet, he was never this quiet, and it bothered the hell out of him.

They were all dealing with it seperately, not wanting to talk about the possibility of what could happen. Blood transfusion be damned, it didn't make up for the shock that had been done to his body thanks to the bullets and with the amount of blood that was still leaking out of the wounds, he'd be in for another one before the night was through. His breathing was alarmingly shallow, the rise and fall of his chest barely visible at a glance, and his pulse was weak and thready. To make matters even worse, it looked like the younger man was beginning to develop a fever as well. Simply put, Jensen wasn't getting better anytime soon, if anything it looked like he was getting worse.

Cougar was sitting by the mattress, his dark eyes hidden by his hat. He was so still that if Pooch hadn't known any better, he could have almost convinced himself that someone had snuck in an replaced the Sniper with a mannequin. Aisha was sitting in a corner of the room, close enough to be of assistance if it came down to it but giving them enough space to deal with everything as they saw fit. She was cleaning her gun, more out of habit than anything, which somehow didn't make the situation any better.

He sighed slowly and walked toward the front door, passing Clay as he dug into his pocket for the cell phone. It was a secure phone, Jensen had made it so that the calls couldn't be traced to any cell or land line even if they had a direct link to it. It had been his saving grace the entire time they'd been off grid; checking in on Jolene and the baby without having to worry about someone tracing the call back to her had been a miracle of modern technology. He found her number instantly, it was the only one in the phone, and pressed "call".

The phone rang once, the sound loud and grating in the silence of the night. He never realized how much he hated silence until tonight. Ever since he started working with Clay, there was always a certain level of expected noise, the sounds that never really died out no matter how hard you tried to mute them. More to the point, he had gotten used to Jensen's noise, the mindless babble the younger man usually went off with. Most of the time it was about computers or his niece or anything else that happened to pop into his head at the moment. If he had learned anything while working alongside the younger man, it was that Jensen would talk until he ran out of breath and then start all over again.

The phone rang again and he leaned against the wall, facing the parking lot. He had been the first person to tell Jensen to shut up when he joined the team. The kid was younger than all of them, only twenty-two when he first got pulled into the team, barely out of training. Clay had seen something in his that the others didn't, they just thought he was annoying. It had been a little over two weeks after he'd dropped into with their ranks that Pooch finally snapped.

_"Jensen, if you don't shut the hell up I'm going to throw you out of the van while we're on the highway." He growled, looking in his rear view mirror at the babbling blond._

_Jensen looked startled for a second before he broke into a wide grin and started talking again. Always with the talking. "Aww, you don't mean that. You're just not used to all the talking because you stake out in the van by yourself all the time. You know, I bet if you had someone to talk to while you were in here it wouldn't be so bad-"_

_"No, actually I like it being quiet in the van. Quiet gives me time to think...which I haven't really been able to do in the two weeks since you've been here." Pooch snapped back; he wasn't really angry, he was tired and he missed his wife. Being married for less than six months and being shipped off to God-forsaken country that was in the middle of a perpetual civil war was really starting to grate on his nerves._

_Jensen nodded slowly in understanding and sat back, toning down the talking for the rest of afternoon._

The phone rang again, the sound now dull in his mind as it drifted to another time. The little bobble-head dog had been a gift from Jensen, an apology sort of gift for talking too much.

_It appeared in the driver's seat one morning with a little note attached to its head reading "a pooch for Pooch". It had been the ugliest, most idiotic thing he'd ever seen, he had absolutely no idea where Jensen had found it, and it immediately went on the dashboard. _

_When Jensen saw it up there for the first time, he grinned brightly and clapped Pooch on the shoulder. "See, now you'll have someone to talk to during the missions." He explained cheerfully before Roque grabbed him by the back of the shift and bodily hauled him into the van. Pooch just smiled and shook his head, tapping his finger on the dog's forehead and watching it nod in agreement._

On the forth ring there was a soft clatter, like the phone being knocked off its cradle, followed by a sleepy voice. "Hello?"

Pooch couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face upon hearing his wife's voice. "Hey beautiful." He said softly, closing his eyes for a second and listening as she inhaled slowly on the other line.

"Hey baby." He could almost see her smile through the line and for a split second he forgot what he called for. There was a muffled whimper, almost like a doll, and Jolene laughed softly. "Oh, you're in trouble now. You woke up the baby..." He could hear her whispering quietly, shushing the fussy baby next to her. There was a sudden shift in atmosphere, almost intuitive on her part, and Jolene pulled the phone closer. "What's wrong?" She asked, her voice tense as she spoke. There was always a risk, always a chance that something could go wrong, and she dreaded the day when she would get a phone call like this. Something in her husband's voice was a dead give away.

Pooch sighed, wishing he had something else, anything else, to tell her but he didn't. "We uh..." He cleared his throat a bit knowing the hesitation wasn't helping to ease his wife's fears in the least. "We were on a mission earlier and it didn't go well..." He was trying to keep it vague; he hated that Jolene had been brought into this but she deserved to know. The team had become part of their family long before they had a family of their own.

"Who?" She asked, voice cracking a bit as if she was desperately trying to keep her emotions in check. By this point she didn't even need to ask what happened, she knew someone was hurt.

"Jensen." The name felt like acid in his throat and he swallowed. "He got shot...twice."

"God..." Jolene breathed, the very name coming out a prayer. "Is he...did it...?" She couldn't finished, not wanting to think of the possibilities.

"He's still alive but..." Pooch shook his head grimly though he knew she couldn't see him. "Its not good, baby...he's lost a lot of blood and its just...its not good..."

He heard her suck in a breath, a muffled whimper and he couldn't tell if it was from the baby or Jolene. They said nothing for a few seconds, the moment stretching on forever. Jensen was the Jolene worried about the most; like the others, they knew his mouth and lack of self-preservation would get him into trouble one day. "Where are you...?" She asked finally, her voice a bit softer.

"I'm not sure...somewhere in California..." Pooch shrugged a bit, looking around the empty parking lot. It was a smaller city, not one of the more well-known on a map, and he wanted to keep it that way. In situations like this, the less she knew the better. "We're staked out in an old bus station somewhere in downtown."

There was another moment of silence, this one a bit longer than the last. She was trying to think of something to say, something that would make it okay (most of the time she never had to say anything) but tonight the words just wouldn't come. "Pooch...I..." She started but the rest dies in her throat.

He nodded slowly, understanding what she was trying to say. "I know baby...I know..." She felt helpless, they all did, and not being able to offer any kind of comfort to either her husband or their injured team member was killing her. He heard her sniffle just a bit on the other end of the line, shifting a bit so the phone brushed against her face. The baby made a soft cooing noise next to her and she shushed him gently.

Finally, she let out a slow breath and said the only think she could think of. "I love you." She whispered, somehow portraying every emotion they were all feeling into her voice.

"I love you too..." He whispered back, clinging to the image of her and the baby as he leaned against the wall of the bus station and closed his eyes.

**OOOOO**

Aisha cleaned her guns carefully, her motions methodical and controlled, a routine she'd done thousands of times. Tonight she had to concentrate though, she had to focus on the dismantled pieces laid out on the table in front of her, she had to force herself not to look over at the mattress in the corner of the room.

She hated the fact that she was concerned, the fact that this rag-tag group of soldiers had affected her this much. She hated that she actually cared what happened to them. She'd trained her entire life to emotionally detach herself from people; humans tended to be impulsive, irrational creatures and the more attached you became, the harder it was to complete the task at hand. Becoming attached was a hindrance, an obstacle that presented itself on a pretty regular basis that she'd learned to suppress. Everyone had a price, she knew that, and by seperating herself from any kind of lingering emotion, it helped her remember that fact. Her mother had made it abundantly clear that betrayal was just a matter of who had more money. Trust was something that didn't come easily, if ever, to her. Her father was one of the only people she could ever remember allowing that privilege. He had his faults and she had been well aware of his profession by age ten but she still trusted him. He was the only person she'd ever let herself get close to, to care about.

And then Clay and his team showed up and ruined everything she'd trained herself to be. It was like someone had turned on the lights in a dark room, illuminating the parts of herself she had managed to hide for years. She trusted them, more than she'd ever trusted anyone before, even her own father. And to be perfectly honest, she wasn't sure why. They were rebellious, unpredictable, and stubborn. Clay was the worst of them. Maybe that was the reason.

Her relationship with Clay had been toxic from the beginning and she was pretty sure that if she had any intention of still killing him after they got rid of Max that she should stop sleeping with him. It had been sex for a while, nothing more than lust and primal desire driving their relationship. And then one day she actually found herself thinking about him, about all of them, and damned if that didn't yank the rug out from under her feet. She cared about them, worried about each of them during their missions, she'd even had coffee with Pooch's wife for Christ's sake! She hated herself for this new found concern for their team and she hated them for it even more.

Jensen was the worst. Everytime he spoke to her for the first couple days they worked together, she literally felt herself reaching for her gun. She didn't think she would ever actually shoot him, maybe just flash the gun to make the point. He was infectious, bright like the sun, and God did she hate him. And then she actually did shoot him and that's when she knew she was in trouble.

_From the moment they started working together, it was strictly business: find Max, kill the bastard, move on. She didn't care about any of them then, it was nothing but a working arrangement; she wouldn't hesitate to shoot any of them if it ever came down to it. But then that night in the hotel room, right after they'd found out who her father was and had burst in guns blazing, that's when the situation changed._

_Jensen didn't have his gun ('fucking moron' she thought as she leveled her pistol at him) and it would take nothing to put a bullet right between his eyes. But she didn't...at the very last second she switched her aim and hit him in the arm, knocking him off his feet and to the ground. The hail of gunfire that followed was a blur but she knew what she had just done; she'd spared him for reasons she couldn't sit there and think about at the moment. _

_It wasn't until after they'd left the docks and Max had gotten away did she give herself time to think about it. There was a tense appreciation around them toward her; she had saved their asses but the trust was wavering a bit. _

_They'd taken Pooch to a hospital for his wounds and one of the doctors was poking and prodding at Jensen's arm when she walked in. He looked up at her, offering one of those bright, happy smiles that was so fucking irritating. "Hey warrior chick." He said and she was amazed that she didn't bristle at the comment like she'd fully expected herself to do._

_Cougar was in the corner of the room, watching her from the corner of his eye. She'd seen that look before and knew it better than she wanted to admit: it wasn't protective or even angry, it was territorial. He was watching her like a predator watches its offspring and suddenly his nickname made even more sense. She knew there had been something going on between the two of them from the beginning but never brought it up. There was no point._

_"I'm sorry..." She started, waiting until the doctor had left the room before continuing. "About shooting you."_

_Jensen smiled again and shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "Its okay, no harm done."_

_She blinked in surprise. "No harm done?" She asked, her voice wavering into disbelief. "I shot you! I could have killed you!"_

_"But you didn't." Jensen said and it stopped her cold. She didn't; she should have, could have and she didn't. What the hell?_

_"Besides, I knew you wouldn't kill me." He added, pulling her from her train of thought with a wink. "You're hell with a gun, lady, and yeah I was scared shitless when you had that thing pointed at me but I knew you wouldn't kill me." He gave her a knowing smile, which was probably even more annoying than the big grins he usually had._

_Aisha struggled for words, wanting nothing more than to prove him wrong, but they died on her lips. He was right; as much as she hated to admit it, she knew when it came right down to it, she couldn't have killed him. Leg wound, yes. Bullet in the arm, of course. But killing him? Any of them? She couldn't do it. Instead of answering, she smacked him across the side of the head, called him an idiot and stalked out of the room, igoring his chuckle at her retreat._

She sighed, glancing over to the briefcase laying on the floor beside her. She'd picked it up before they left the building, the smooth black leather still tacky and stained with drying blood. With the help of a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, she'd managed to get it open but there was little else to be done with it after that. There were disks and flash drives scattered inside but without Jensen they were pretty much useless; the rest of them were good enough with computer but Jensen was a damn prodigy when it came to technology. With him unconscious and essentially out of commission, the files were just going to have to wait.

She caught herself looking over at the mattress before she realized it. The blood that had stained bandages covering his wounds was clearly visible from where she was sitting and she knew damn good and well that the wound would be infected before it was all said and done. They didn't have to worry about the bullets, the heat from being fired from the gun was enough to sterilize them, but the bits of clothing and dirt that had been pushed into his blood stream by the impact was what would do it. And judging by the pallor of his skin, that's exactly what was happening.

Aisha sighed again, turning her attention back to her gun. She reloaded the magazine of one, carefully sliding each bullet into the chamber with well-trained precision. There were four bullets she kept with her at all times, those were the four she was going to use when they finally caught up with Max. Each one had its own body part too: one for the balls, one for the heart, throat, and finally, one right between the eyes. She'd held onto them for years, keeping them for the perfect opportunity. She'd even chiseled her father's initials into one of them, satisfied with the fact that it was at least some form of payback.

Now was was thinking about dedicating another of her four. One of them would be for their team, even if she was the one who pulled the trigger. Max had ruined thousands of lives, probably even more than that, and they were the only ones trying to stop him. She glanced back at Jensen, still and unresponsive on the mattress, and decided that would be the perfect thing to do.

**OOOOO**

Four months. That's all if had taken for Cougar to fall completely in love with Jensen. It had been a startling realization, something that had taken him completely by surprise, and to be honest he wasn't prepared for it. First of all, Jensen was quite possibly one of the most annoying men he'd ever met in his entire life. He was constantly talking, had little to no regard for personal space, and made it a point to be as aggravating as possible nearly all the time. And second, and this was important, Cougar was not gay. He had never, ever, in his life been attracted to another man and made it a firm point to never, ever let it happen but...it did.

He didn't know what it was about the younger man that caught his attention in the beginning, maybe it was the fact that he was the complete opposite of Cougar himself. Where he was quiet and reserved, Jensen was open and bold. Cougar prefered the silence, Jensen would rather chew glass than have to keep his mouth shut for more than a few minutes at a time. They were like night and day, push and pull, and he denied it for months after the first realization.

_The first time Jensen ever killed anyone, it scared the shit out of him. Being in the military, he knew full well that sometimes it came down to kill or be killed but he'd never had to face that decision in real life. He'd only been with the team for a little over four months when that decision made itself loud and clear and he pulled the trigger._

_They were responsible for taking down a ring of arms dealers, the kind that sell automatic weapons to teenagers. The mission had gone smoothly until Jensen had gone into one of the offices to get the account records and one of the men pulled a gun on him. It had been a split second decision, shoot or get shot, and Jensen had chosen to shoot. The moment had been surreal, dream-like, and all Jensen knew was the man was close enough to splatter blood all across his face. Clay had found him, staring wide-eyed at the dead man on the ground with blood freckling his face and had to literally drag him out of the room._

_It was hard, they'd all killed before but it didn't mean any of them enjoyed it. In fact, the knew for a fact that it made Pooch physically ill to shoot to kill. But Jensen was different, he hadn't been with them for long and he'd never been put in that situation. He was still a kid, barely twenty-two years old and had probably been shoved into a military office the minute he got done with training. Sure, there had been simulations, drills, and protocols given in the military but it didn't compare to the real thing. He'd never killed anyone before and it showed._

_The persistent talking, the mindless babble that they had put up with for days just stopped. Clay tried to talk to him, tell him he'd made the right decision and that he should never question his actions. Roque told him to suck it up and get used to it (he was the sensitive one after all) and Pooch had told him that if it ever came down to it and he questioned himself to think about his loved ones, his sister and the everyone else he cared about. Pooch told him that everytime he ever fired the gun, he thought of Jolene and of something happening to her and that person being the one who was responsible for it and it helped with the decision._

_Cougar didn't say anything; it wasn't like he had nothing to say its just that he knew trying to make him feel better was pretty pointless at the moment. The guilt of taking someone's life, no matter who they were, is hard on anyone and he knew that saying everything would be okay, that it gets easier in time, was a damn lie. He'd been doing this for longer than he cared to remember, he'd been one of the best Snipers the military had ever seen, and it never got any easier. He knew Jensen needed to deal with this in his own way, without the their interference, and figure out how to handle the situation. _

_He found him sitting out on the balcony of the hotel later that night, bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and retractable pen in the other (he wasn't sure what the pen was for, probably just something to mess with). Once again, Cougar said nothing, he simply walked outside and sat down next to the younger man, looking out over the dark streets below._

_Jensen offered him the bottle, to which Cougar took a shot and immediately handed it back to him. The blond offered him an awkward smile and took another drink. "It doesn't get any easier does it...?" He asked, his words slurring ever so slightly as he spoke. He'd been absurdly proud of himself the first time he ever got Cougar to give him a direct response. Tonight was not one of those nights._

_Cougar shook his head slowly, wishing he could tell him otherwise but knowing it would be a lie. "No...it doesn't." He said simply, looking down as a taxi pulled up next to their hotel. "But I don't think its supposed to. If it becomes easy, you become a killer...el monstruo...I don't think it should ever be easy."_

_Jensen smiled softly and nodded, screwing the cap back onto the bottle and setting in down next to him. "I hope so..." He mumbled softly, squeezing the bridge of his nose tightly to ward of the headache he was sure to have later. "I feel like I still have his blood on me..." He mumbled again, shifting a bit and slumping to the side, landing neatly against Cougar's shoulder._

_The Sniper was startled for a split second, his first instinct telling him to move away, but he didn't. Instead, he sat there silently, offering quiet support for the newest member of their team. It wasn't much, it wasn't the comforting embrace of a mother or someone telling you everything would be alright, but for now it was all he had to offer. Before the night was through, Jensen had fallen asleep on his shoulder and he was left to stare out at the silent night around them._

That night had changed something in him, something he'd never felt before. In that moment, unbeknowst to anyone other than himself, he silently made a vow to watch over Jensen with his life. The younger man certainly didn't need a babysitter or anything of the like, but he felt the need to protect him, to watch him a bit more closely than the others, and to make it his duty to never see that vulnerable side of him again. Jensen was supposed to be the light-hearted one of them, he kept them grounded with his easy wit and smartass remarks. He shouldn't be the uncertain, shaken young man he'd encountered on the roof that night.

He denied anything more than friendship for nearly a year, not wanting to put an unnecessary rift in their team dynamic. It was hard; he tried to pretend that he only watched him through his scope because he was covering his back and that it didn't bother him when the drunk sorority girls at the bars would fawn all over him. He tried to pretend that he didn't sneak into Jensen's room at night to make sure the younger man was still breathing or that he'd gotten into the infuriating habit of honest-to-God blushing whenever Jensen said his name. It wasn't until they'd all had a bit too much to drink one night that the tides had changed.

_They were stumbling home after a night at the bar, Clay and Roque arm-in-arm with two women they'd found at the bar and Jensen and Cogar staggering along behind them. Pooch was back at the hotel already, completely uninterested with flirting game for the evening, and had left the others to their own devices. After Clay and Roque disappeared into their respective rooms, leaving Jensen and Cougar alone and swaying in the hallway, Jensen grinned and turned to the Sniper. _

_"If I wasn't so sure you'd shoot me in the face, I'd ask you to be my date for the night." Jensen giggled drunkenly, slumping against the wall next to him and eyeing the older man through his glasses._

_Cougar, for his part, laughed and shook his head. "I might actually take you up on the offer, amigo."_

_Jensen giggled again. "Seriously?" _

_And that's all it took; the rest of the evening had been a blur and it was the best thing in the world. They had woken up together in the bed the next morning, neither with any regrets from the night before, and they had never looked back. Hell, they had been sleeping together for over a year before Clay ever even asked. And the whole "don't ask, don't tell thing" didn't matter, Clay simply didn't care. As long as it didn't interfere with their work he was fine with it._

Cougar sighed and looked back down at the unconscious young man next to him. Jensen was pale, his entire upper body coated with a thin sheen of sweat and the bandages on his wounds were completely soaked in blood. He was good enough at stitching people up but he was nowhere near professional and it didn't take the place of a surgeon's job. The wounds were still bleeding and Jensen was beginning to shiver.

He found a jacket he'd been using as a pillow the night before and unfolded it, covering the injured man carefully. He stared at Jensen's chest intently, counting the shallow, uneven breaths and absently holding his in between each exhale. He didn't know what he would do if Jensen didn't make it...he really couldn't see a future without the computer tech in it. He knew Pooch would go back to his family, put all of this behind him for a chance to live a normal life, but he knew Clay and Aisha couldn't do that, Hell, the way they were going, they would self-destruct before this was all over with. Jensen was their tether, the one who kept them from getting a little too far gone, and if he was gone then the others would be lost as well. One...two...three...four...just like Dominos...

He reached out, touching the fever-flushed face gently and brushing his thumb over his cheek bone. "Aguante mi amor...regrese a mí..."

* * *

**"Aguante mi amor...regrese a mí..." - "Hold on my love...come back to me..."**

**Hope you guys liked it! :D**


	6. Sabes

**Woo! Yay fevers! :D I attempted to write a song chapter, hopefully it turned out okay ^.- The song is called Sabes by the group Reik; it's really beautiful if you've never heard it! :D**

* * *

The fever spiked around 3 am, the slight shivers that had been rippling through Jensen's body turning into a full-blown, convulsive tremors. He was pale, the color draining from his tan skin and turning it a sickly ashen color while the area around his wounds remained an angry red. In spite of the fierce shivers that shook through him, a thin layer of sweat clung to his skin. Jensen moaned in pain, shifting slightly and wincing as the movement jarred his wounds.

"Shhh..." Cougar soothed above him, brushing his hand over the younger man's too hot skin. The heat radiated off of him like a furnace, to the point where it was almost uncomfortable to touch him for longer than a few seconds, but the Sniper kept his hand pressed to the unconscious man's cheek. Any contact with Jensen, no matter how small, reminded him that the younger man was still alive.

Clay and Pooch had gone pharmacy raiding again trying to find a drug that would treat the infection that was coursing through the computer tech's blood. Jensen, never one to take the easy way out of anything, was severely allergic to penicillin so the ever-popular method of simply shooting the kid up with enough of it to Alexander Fleming proud was shot down by the fact that he would more than likely go into a coma if that happened. Jensen had always been the handful of the group after all.

He shifted again, eyes squeezing shut slightly in pain and his breath coming out a sharp hiss as his jaws clenched together. Cougar frowned, brushing his thumb over the younger man's cheekbone gently. "Jensen..." He whispered softly, trying to gain some kind of reaction from his team mate. Jensen's shivers died down ever so slightly at the sound of Sniper's voice but he never made it back to consciousness.

With a soft sigh, Cougar reached into the bucket next to him, pulling out a damp wash cloth and wringing it out. Aisha had found a bucket they'd been using to clean this place and filled it with water and clean wash cloths, providing what little relief that could until the others got back. She'd disappeared after that, slipping into some dark corner of the building without a word; Cougar didn't know where she had gone and honestly he didn't care at the moment. He unfolded the cloth, gently swiping it over Jensen's forehead and cheeks, dragging it down his neck and dabbing at the uninjured skin of his chest. The younger man jerked a bit at the sudden coolness pressed to his skin but Cougar shushed him softly once more and he relaxed a bit, shoulders falling against the mattress.

Cougar kept his movements slow and gentle, knowing that any sudden jolt could do even more damage to Jensen's already weakened system. He hummed softly, pressing the wash cloth to either side of Jensen's neck, wishing the fever would disappear with it. He started singing quietly, more to himself than anyone, but it helped fill the silence left by the younger man's unconsciousness (something that was honestly beginning to make him nervous).

_Sabes  
No pido nada mas  
Que estar entre tus brazos  
Y huir del todo mal  
Por estar junto a ti _

_Sabes  
No dejo de pensar  
Estoy enamorado  
Te quiero confesar  
Soy solo un esclavo  
Que no sabe vivir sin ti_

The song was soft and slow, he couldn't remember where he'd heard it, but it fit their relationship perfectly. He'd never been one for sappy romance, he left that to Pooch and Jolene, but this song struck something inside of him the first time he heard it and it had never strayed far from his mind, especially when Jensen was around.

_Cuando llegastes tu  
Te metiste en mi sed  
Encediste la luz  
Me llenastes de fe  
Tanto tiempo juzgue  
Pero al fin te encontre  
Tan perfecta como te imagine_

He loved him, more than he ever thought he could love anyone, and it scared the shit out of him. Jensen was like the sun, bright and beautiful and more magnetic than he even realized. He was intoxicating, irresistible, and could knock you off your feet with the mini-hurricane his presence produced. To be perfectly honest, he was the last person in the world Cougar ever thought he'd fall in love with. But then it happened, as suddenly and unexpectedly as an earthquake, and Jensen had begun to fill the dark places in his soul, taking away all the painful memories he's spent his whole life trying to forget.

_Como agujar en un pajar  
Te busque sin cesar  
Como huella en el mar  
Tan dificil de hallar  
Tanto tiempo juzgue  
Pero al fin te encontre  
Tan perfecta como te imagine_

There was never a sudden realization, an epiphany, or a choir of angels that appeared when he realized he was in love with the younger man. It was more of a feeling of contentment, like a puzzle piece falling into place, like he'd been meant to be there all along. It was so subtle in fact that Cougar hadn't even realized he'd been searching until Jensen came along. He did his job, he was good at his job, and then they would leave, heading for some other unknown location that wouldn't show up on a map. Everyone had someone to fight for: Pooch had Jolene, Clay fought for the entire damn world, hell, even Roque probably had someone he was fighting to keep safe. Not Cougar. Sure, he had his family but with nothing but a nickname and pair of dogtags inscribed with the same nickname, he never had to worry about anyone finding out about them. They were safe and he didn't have to worry. But then Jensen came along, brilliant and stupid at the same time, and it gave him something to protect.

_Sabes  
Te quiero confesar  
Que te encuentro iresistible  
No dejo de pensar  
Queria lo imposible  
Por quedarme cerca de ti_

It wasn't until that night, the first night they spent together, that Cougar realized he would give up everything to be with him. He was fiercely protective of his team mates, he knew he would take a bullet for all of them with no questioned asked, but Jensen was a different story. Jensen was his; his responsibility, his reason for staying sane, his everything. He knew from that moment on, he would do the impossible to stay by his side. Without him, there was nothing.

The door opened behind him and he turned slightly to see Pooch and Clay walk in, a small glass bottle clutched in one hand. The approached the mattress Jensen was stretched out on and dropped to their knees beside him. "How is he?" Clay asked as Pooch rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a packaged syringe.

"Not good." Cougar said, shaking his head grimly. The shivers hadn't died down in the least and fever was only getting higher.

Clay reached out, pressing his fingers to the side of Jensen's throat and shaking his head slowly. "His pulse is racing..." He muttered, moving his hand and pressing it to the younger man's face.

"It's better than the alternative..." Pooch mumbled back, inserting the needle into the glass vial and drawing out a measure amount. Noticing the others eyes on him, he shrugged slightly. "Sorry..." He grabbed Jensen's arm and peirced the skin in the juncture of his elbow, pushing the plunger and emptying the contents of the syringe into his bloodstream. The younger man winced, moaning softly in the back of his throat and Pooch muttered another apology before slipping the bottle back into his pocket.

"What was that?" Cougar asked, watching the younger ma's facial expressions carefully. The last thing they needed was for him to go into anaphylactic shock thanks to an allergic reaction from the medication trying to save his life.

"Cefazolin." Pooch answered absently, looking back as Aisha appeared in the doorway. "Its like penicillin but, you know, it won't kill him."

"It should take care of the infection." Clay elaborated, lifting the gauze on the wound in his shoulder and making a face at the condition of the injury. "God..." He muttered, shaking his head slowly. "Kid never could make it easy, could he?" He asked, digging into the first aid kit and pulling out clean gauze and rubbing alcohol. He cleaned the wounds carefully, re-bandaging them and discarding the used ones. There was a heavy silence among the remaining team members, oppressive and lingering. "Guess all we can do now is wait." Clay said, standing slowly and taking a step away from the mattress.

Pooch followed his retreat, figuring hovering over the mattress wasn't going to help Jensen's progress any. Aisha remained by the door, there was no telling where she had been but the fact that she came into check on them meant something. They were all in this together, no matter what.

The others faded off, one by one, until there was no one left but Cougar and Jensen, the way it had been before. Cougar shifted closer, reaching down and slowly raking his fingers through the short blond hair. The fever was still running rampant but the deep pain lines had lessened a bit and the shivers were beginning to subside little by little. Cougar slipped the over-shirt off of his shoulders and laid it over the younger man's chest, tucking it in around him carefully.

_Cuando llegastes tu  
Te metiste en mi sed  
Encediste la luz  
Me llenastes de fe  
Tanto tiempo juzgue  
Pero al fin te encontre  
Tan perfecta como te imagine_

Jensen had been the game-changer for him from the very beginning, even before they had started sleeping together. He was like the annoying kid brother, the one who would drive you absolutely crazy one minute and looking up to you the next. He'd been drawn to Cougar like a moth to a flame and, thanks to his brilliance, Cougar had done the same.

_Como agujar en un pajar  
Te busque sin cesar  
Como huella en el mar  
Tan dificil de hallar  
Tanto tiempo juzgue  
Pero al fin te encontre  
Tan perfecta como te imagine_

Jensen shifted a bit in his sleep, his breath hitching ever so slightly. Cougar reached out, cupping his face gently and running his thumb over his cheekbone. He couldn't remember how many times he'd done it in the middle of the night, jolted awake by a nightmare he couldn't bring himself to remember and look over, his hands moving on their own accord as he reached out to touch his sleeping lover. It was comforting, familiar, it reminded him of everything he was trying to protect in the world. Jensen had some along at the exact time when he needed him, even if Cougar didn't realize that's what he needed. He'd changed him forever, without a question, and it would take Heaven and Hell before he was willing to give that up.

_Sabes  
No pido nada mas  
Que estar entre tus brazos_

* * *

**You know**  
**I don't ask for anything else**  
**Than to be in your arms**  
**and escape from all the evil**  
**just to be with you**

**You know**  
**I can't stop thinking that I am in love**  
**I want to confess**  
**That I am only a slave**  
**That doesnt know how to live without you**

**When you came**  
**you came into my heart**  
**Brightened my soul**  
**You filled me with faith**  
**How long did I search**  
**But i finally found you**  
**As perfect as I imagined you**

**Like a needle in a haystack**  
**I looked without doubt**  
**Like a clue in the sea**  
**Very hard to find**  
**How long did I search**  
**But I finally found you**  
**As perfect as I imagined you**

**You know**  
**I want to confess**  
**That I find you irresistable**  
**I cant stop but think that I would**  
**Do the impossible to stay close to you**

**When you came**  
**You entered my heart**  
**Enlightened my soul**  
**You filled me with faith**  
**How long did I search**  
**But I finally found you**  
**As perfect as I imagined you**

**nooo noo**  
**LIke a needle in a haystack**  
**I searched for you without doubt**  
**Like a clue in the ocean**  
**Very hard to find**  
**How long did I search**  
**But i finally found you**  
**As perfect as I imagined yu**

**You know that I dont ask for anything else but**  
**to be in your arms**


	7. Promises

**Wow, I'm so sorry about the long update delay O.o I'm taking a Literature course right now that has demanded nothing short of my complete and utter submission so it was really hard to find time to write :/ Hope you guys like it though!**

* * *

Jensen regained consciousness slowly, forcing his eyes open with much more energy than he thought necessary. He blinked up at the bare ceiling, high beams criss-crossing over plaster and wires. There was a brief surge of panic, a sudden drop of his stomach when he realized he didn't know where he was. It took a few seconds to mentally link everything back together and for him to realize he was back in the warehouse.

The pain started a few seconds later, a dull, throbbing ache beginning in the center of his body and moving outward. His shoulder and side felt like they were on fire, each breath burning and pulling at the stiff stitches. Another cloud of confusion descended over him and he frowned, trying to remember what happened. Blurry snap-shots of memory flickered around in his head: the office building...the suitcase...the girl being held hostage...getting shot...oh. It felt like he'd been hit with a brick, the very heavy and unforgiving brick of knowledge. He'd been shot. Again. God, he hated getting shot.

He heard something next to him and turned his head slowly, his eyes falling on the slumped form of Cougar sitting next to him. The Sniper's back was against the wall, one hand resting on the blankets over his chest and his hat was pulled low, obscuring his eyes so it was hard to tell if he was even awake. Judging by the slow, even breaths though, it was a pretty safe bet to assume the older man was asleep. There were dark circles under his eyes and the lines on his face spoke hours of concern. Jensen vaguely wondered how long he'd been unconscious.

He shifted just a bit, his back and legs stiff and sore from being in one position for too long. However, the shift caused his shoulder to press painfully into the mattress beneath him and a groan escaped him before he could prevent it.

Cougar's head shot up instantly, suddenly completely alert and focused on the grimacing blonde on the mattress. "Jensen..." He breathed, his voice coming out as more of a relieved whisper.

Jensen managed a weak smile, still trying to fight the urge to whimper in pain. "Hey Cougs..." He mumbled, trying to hide the pain he knew was evident in his eyes. "Long time no s-" He started but was cut off when the older man suddenly engulfed him in the biggest hug he'd ever gotten in his entire life. Jensen froze for a second, unsure what to do. Cougar was not a touchy person, never had been, and for him to suddenly get all grabby and huggy was a bit of a surprise. Once again, Jensen wondered how long he'd been out of commission.

After a few seconds, the Sniper pulled back, keeping his hands on either side of the younger man's face and looking at him carefully as if he was afraid Jensen might suddenly disappear in front of him. "You're alright..." He said, trying to convince himself more than anything.

"Ow...yeah...I'm alright-ish..." Jensen groaned again, his shoulder aching fiercely. His side was on fire but it was nothing compared to the pain in his chest. "I feel like the bullet proof vest test subject..." He mumbled, trying to add a bit of humor into his voice. It didn't quite make it there.

Cougar didn't say anything, he just continued to stare at the computer tech, taking in every inch of him as if he couldn't quite believe he was real.

Jensen frowned, trying to remain upright without his body giving out on him again. "Uh...Cougs...? The stairing's starting to freak me out a bit..."

"It was my fault." The older man said suddenly and Jensen frowned again.

"What?"

"It was my fault you got shot..." Cougar shook his head slowly, sitting back on his knees. "I should have taken the shot but that girl was in the way and...I knew I could do it but there was still a risk of hitting her...and then he turned on you..." The sentences were running together, none of them ending properly, and cougar kept shaking his head.

Jensen reached out, taking one of the Sniper's hands in his own and squeezing it gently. "I know..." He said quietly, ignoring the ache radiating in the rest of his body. "I know Cougs...Jesus, I know you'd never have taken the shot if it meant hurting that girl." The Sniper refused to look at him and Jensen scooted a bit closer, gritting his teeth in pain. "Cougar...Carlos..." He said, hoping using the older man's real name would get his attention. It gained the desired effect when Cougar looked at him. "I don't blame you...not for not taking the shot...not for me getting shot...none of it. I knew the risks as well as you did...I knew what could happen."

"But you-"

Jensen shook his head slowly, wincing at the dizziness it caused him. Oh yeah, he got hit with a briefcase too, huh? "Don't blame yourself." He said simply, moving his hand and reaching up with his uninjured arm to gently touch the older man's face. "I don't blame you...I never could...I know you did what you had to."

Cougar didn't say anything, he simply wrapped his arms around the younger man again and hugged him tightly. "I thought I was going to lose you..." He whispered in a voice so soft that if he hadn't been right next to him, Jensen probably wouldn't have heard it.

Jensen smiled and rested his head against Cougar's shoulder, closing his eyes and leaning into him. He was exhausted and sitting up was wearing him down even further. "You're not going to lose me any time soon." He whispered the reassurance back, wrapping his uninjured arm around the older man's back and holding on as tightly as he could. He could only imagine how terrified Cougar must have been. He could barely imagine something like this happening to the Sniper; he knew he couldn't stand it if Cougar had been shot and all he could do was sit by and watch. It must have been terrible. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise..."

They stayed like that for a long time, neither was sure how long but it didn't matter. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Jensen pulled back and looked around the room. "Where are the others?"

Cougar shook his head slowly. "I'm not sure. They've all been in and out for the past few hours..." He left the sentence there; it was clear his attention was focused elsewhere.

"How long have I been out?"

The Sniper frowned. "Almost two days." He said quietly, keeping one hand firmly planted on Jensen's arm to assure himself the blonde was still there. "You had a terrible fever and we were afraid that..." He didn't finish, the words fading off into obscurity.

Jensen smiled softly and touched his hand. "Well, I didn't." He said with a wink. "Someone's gotta stay around an keep an eye on you, right?" He teased weakly, slowly but surely losing his battle against staying upright. He swayed a bit and Cougar's arm swung around his back, his dark eyes wide with concern. "S'okay." Jensen smiled again and shook his head. "Just kinda hard to stay upright, you know...?"

Cougar nodded and carefully lowered him back to the mattress, pulling the blanket up to his chin again. "You need to rest...your body needs to heal."

"I don't think I can protest too much against that." Jensen joked, keeping his hand on Cougar's arm. "If you see the others before I do, tell them I said hey."

For the first time since he'd regained consciousness, Cougar felt himself smile. "Aisha said she would shoot you herself if you ever did anything that stupid again. I agree with her."

Jensen smiled tiredly in return. "Guess you'll just have to keep me from doing anything that stupid again, huh?" He squeezed the older man's arm gently, trying his best to relax against the mattress. "Stay with me for a while?" He asked even though he already knew the answer.

Cougar smiled warmly at him, a smile he only reserved for the geeky computer tech he'd fallen in love with. "Anything for you, mi amor." He whispered, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to the younger man's forehead. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise..."

* * *

**Yay for sweet, sappy endings! :D**


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